"Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is..

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas..."

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet up with 2 of my bff's from Hawaii.  Here's the background to the trip in a quick spiel:

During Marisa's birthday celebration (with The Chippendales, might I add) there was a raffle.  Well, my dear friend Kellie won!  The grand prize was 2 roundtrip tickets to Las Vegas, accommodations and meal tickets for five whole days!  This was so so exciting, for I have never known anyone to win something this huge!!

So, after waking up at 4:30am and working a full day, I hope in my brand new car and drive myself to Vegas to meet up with my girls!

It was such a fantastic trip!  We had such a blast!  We went dancing, got hit on, didn't sleep, got hit on, walked the strip, got hit on, ate In N Out (twice), held a baby lion named Ray-Ray (17 weeks old), gambled (well, Marisa and Kellie did), got hit on, saw Cirque du Soleil's KA (UHHHH-MAZING!), and got hit on.

It was quite the whirlwind trip, but we all made it home safely, including me after only getting 4 hours of sleep after staying awake for 24 hours...  Man, I'm getting too old for this, but it was worth it!


Wittle sweeping baby wion cub.

So happy to have held a baby lion!

                                                   The boyfriend at Cirque du Soleil KA ; )

Family Portraits, Benincosa Style...

Ok, so this post is coming pretty dang late... I'm talking.. gosh, I don't even know how long ago this was... July?  I'm going to say July.  Anyhoo, the Val Benincosa family was finally ALL together again, new babies and all!  It was so much fun to have all of my siblings together once again!  (Not to mention their adorable babies, the most beautiful nieces and adorable nephew EVER!)

So without further ado...  Here are some of the pix, courtesy of Richard Nielsen (thanks again!)  Just note that they are the misc. photos:

My beautiful Mommy.

Jaiden, daughter of Tiffer and Seanie.  Nothing but smiles!

Ash and Gi proving strength.

The cutest parents ever, even after all of these years (and kids!)

The happiest Grandparents in the world!

Owen is the cutest nephew I've ever had.  Always with his cars.

The Influence of Veronica Lake...

While I was in Salt Lake City this Labor Day weekend, my sister Ashley decided she wanted to learn more about the 1940's hairstyles.  My cousin April is a hairstylist and absolutely loves these styles as well and was more than happy to teach my baby sister.

After the styling that took a lot longer than planned, due to the subject's stubborn hair (your's truly), my cousin D'Arcy proved her skills as well by snapping some shots of the fun event.  I truly have a talented family and it was such a blast being together again laughing until our faces were sore!

fun.

As you know...err.. maybe you don't.. I wake up at 4:30am every weekday to make to it to work by 6am.  Yeah, I know.  It DOES suck!

  

So anyway, I usually don't stay out too late during the work week.  Monday night was a different story.

(The first single from Aim and Ignite.  I think it's amazing when a singer can get the whole crowd to sing their own songs back to them -- sorry, it's live, but I just love this song!)

It was a last minute invite from my little sister Ashley to go to L.A. to see a band called fun. play for free.  Now fun. is fronted by Nate Ruess, formerly from one of my all time favorite bands, The Format.  The Format went on indefinite hiatus this past February and that is when fun. (yes, it is spelled lower case with a period) was created.  I never had the chance to go to The Format and I was not about to pass up fun. did I mention it was free??

I knew I wouldn't regret it.  Absolutely brilliant.  I immediately signed on to iTunes and bought the whole album.  There is a song on there named "The Gambler" that Nate Ruess wrote about his parents.  It's something I want in life.  It's a beautiful song and I suggest you find it and listen to it.

After leaving Spaceland in L.A. (and yes, seeing the fires along the hillsides), we drove to Long Beach to see the band Limbeck at The Prospector (which I HATE -- not Limbeck, but the bar).  It was fantastic!  Such a fabulous night spent well!!  And just think, I could have stayed home and slept??  Meh, I'll sleep when I'm old.

(This one is so catchy, I just love it!)